Help me with choosing equipment please

[Cookieman]

Hello everyone. I previously posted in the want buy section for a large corner tank and have had no luck so far, therefore, I think I'm gonna shop around for a new set up. Heres my question...
I have done a lot of looking around and see there is tons of brands and mixed feelings and opinions on different brands and products can someone tell what they think i should get for the set-up I'm looking for as well as name brands. I am looking at a 108 rr corner (quarter cylinder tank) from 4fishtank.com that is equiped with a nice looking stand and cap. What brand and type of lights, skimmer, sump or anything else would you use for a reef that plans to have some fish. I am setting this up for my little girl she begging me for a fish tank, so i want to make it colorful yet fun with fish without overloading

I appreciate all your help and recommendations!
Charlie

 

[NYreefNoob]

equip

well my tank was from glass cages, they are about the cheapest in price, not easy to deal with at time's and the seams arent that pretty, but solid tanks, as for equiptment. dont cut corners here, skimmers, ati bubble master, asm, and several others are great brands, lighting depends on type of corals, but i would go with either t5's or metal halide, for powerheads, tunze, get a rodi to filter sink water, and do alot of reading, look through the tank forum and see what others are using on their set-ups

 

[Davidl919]

As far as your Tank. Unless 4fishtank is something you really like for looks you can Get a All Glass Aquarium corner 125 gallon reef ready tank for under $500 tank Only
The light depends on what you plan to keep, if all you want are the fish and rocks then T5 lights should be the only thing to get. If you want to also have corals then you will need metal halides. Try not to get regular florescents they can cause algea problems. Any brand hellolights.com sells should be good.
For the Skimmer. my opinion on top skimmers are Deltec, bubblemaster, and Asm whichever you buy get it rated at least 1 1/2 times your tank. If tank is 125 get something rated for 200 or more.
For the Sump I would contact a member here named kimoyo he builds custom sumps and does a very good job if he is not available check ADHI sumps. Hope this helps.

This was being written before nyreefnoob replied and as you can see we are both around the same lines. Except I did not mention powerheads and tunze is the top brand another good powerhead is Hydor Koralia and yeah you must get an RODI Filter for the water that is made to go in your tank. A good ATO is also something that you night need if you can't dedicate too much time to your tank. ATO stands for auto top off, it is used to top off water that is lost due to evaporation and skimming.

 

[reefman]

being this is for your girl, it shows what a great dad u r, but i hope u realize having a reef tank requires a lot of knowedge and maintenance and $. i hope it is something u enjoy n r ready for.

 

[Cookieman]

lol thanks for the compliment. I try my best to be a good dad, knowledge I'm limited like I posted in others threads I was in this hobby before and want to get back into slowly without screwing up, I have a friend that is helping me out alot so thanks to Kres. My other issue is time I work 7 days a week which gives me the $ to afford it but limited to the time on maintenance. Hopefully I can find someone (paid) to help me out with that too.

 

[noodleman]

if you dont have much time for maintence and you want a reef...the most important thing to to maintain you levels, so get a autotop off and a doser for cal and alk...as for skimmers, lights, flow, etc will depend on what type of coral you want to keep

 

[nycmat]

with little time i would suggest going the extra mile and get a controller, auto top off, doser and t5 lights. that would make it automatic so all you would have to do is just check the controller everyday to see your levels etc. skimmers- if you do not want to break the bank i would go with a asm moded for your tank.

 

[meschaefer]

If time is an issue, I also highly recommend a controller. You can go with a base model like an Aquacontroler Jr. The link provided is the unit combination that i went with, as I am also very short on time. It comes with PH and temp probes, as well as a 'power strip" (dc-8) that the unit controls so that it can turn things on and off.

It controls all of my lights, monitors temp and PH, you can even have things dependent on system parameters. (on my old tank when the tank temp passed 81 degrees it turned off my metal halide lights to help control heat issues, it would also turn on a fan to help cool the tank)

An auto top off system is also a must for people short on time. This will add fresh water to the tank periodically as water evaporates. I just bought a new one, but have yet to be able to try it, though I hear good things about them. It is simply a switch that turns on a pump, when the water level gets lower than where it is supposed to be.

As mentioned above, another good item for people short on time are either dosing pumps or calcium reactors to supplement alkalinity and calcium. I use a dosing pump, but whether you really need these items is dependent on what type of coral you intend to keep in the tank.